A6
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Hermiston: Volunteers show love for their city
Continued from Page A1
AP Photo/Noah Berger, File
A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, Cal-
ifornia. California fire authorities say that Pacific Gas and
Electric equipment was responsible for the deadliest and
most destructive wildfire in state history.
Wildfire: Local utilities
work to minimize fire risk
Continued from Page A1
in charge of protecting
communities.
“When, and if, fires do
threaten the communities
we serve, we work with the
people fighting the fires to
make sure they are able to
do their jobs while we do
ours, protecting the grid and
our customers.”
Under new state regula-
tions in California, Pacific
Power has protocols in place
to shut down power supply
to specific areas when cer-
tain hazardous conditions
are met in order to prevent
fires. Hanson wrote this
scenario is called a Public
Safety Power Shutoff and is
used as a line of last defense
in the interest of public
safety.
“We have been work-
ing closely with emergency
services, local officials and
communities to prepare if a
public safety power shutoff
is required in the areas CAL
FIRE and the California
Public Utilities Commission
has designated as high risk
zones.”
In Oregon, Hanson
wrote, Pacific Power is
adopting a wildfire safety
plan that includes active
grid monitoring as well
as forecasted and current
weather conditions, satellite
imaging, enhanced facility
and equipment inspections
and increased vegetation
management.
Kevin Wingert, public
affairs specialist for Bonne-
ville Power Administration,
said one of the triggers to
shutting off power is when
there is a direct risk to mem-
bers of the public or fire-
fighters. Wingert responded
to questions of wildfire pre-
paredness in an email.
“Life safety of the pub-
lic and our crews as well as
the reliability of the elec-
tric grid are our top priori-
ties at the Bonneville Power
Administration,” Wingert
wrote.
However, he wrote, BPA
does not currently de-power
lines as a preventative mea-
sure to address wildfire
potential.
“The only times we
de-energize a line in
response to a wildfire is
when thick smoke enters
our transmission corridor or
if there is an imminent life-
safety risk,” Wingert wrote.
Thick smoke can poten-
tially lead to a fault on a line
or in the most extreme of
cases, Wingert wrote, result
in an arc from an energized
line to the ground.
“If wildfires approach
our transmission corridors,
BPA sends line crews to
monitor the actual condi-
tions from a safe distance
and relay information to
our dispatchers, including
whether de-energizing a
line due to smoke or a poten-
tial life-safety perspective is
needed,” Wingert wrote.
To prevent wildfires,
Wingert wrote BPA focuses
on vegetation management,
asset management and
training field employees.
“Our rights of way
are managed to promote
low-growing plant commu-
nities, and we clear all brush
within 50-feet of struc-
tures as part of our sched-
uled maintenance,” Win-
gert wrote. “As a result of
our vegetation management
practices, firefighters often
use our transmission corri-
dors as fire breaks.”
A representative from
Umatilla Electric Cooper-
ative was unavailable for
comment.
dumped in by the wheel-
barrow-load. She joined
the event through Oasis
Vineyard Church.
“My church likes to
help the community,” she
said. “We’re not just a sit-
at-home church.”
She said she was enjoy-
ing meeting new people at
the event and was happy to
see all ages participating.
Sharon Welsheimer said
it was her first time partic-
ipating in the I Love My
City cleanup day because
she has been out of town
previous years.
“We love our city, what
can I say?” she said when
asked what brought her out
to the park that morning.
Gina Castillo, who was
weeding the landscaping
around the park’s paths,
echoed that sentiment.
“The name says every-
thing,” she said. “I love my
city and I want to be a part
of it.”
On the other side of
the park, Hermiston High
School’s Eco Club was
painting over the graf-
fiti covering the underside
of the Highland Avenue
bridge.
Rachel Cairns, the club’s
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Jair Tzomeaxle pulls weeds near the Hermiston Community Center Saturday during the I Love My
City event.
advisor, said they were
hoping to persuade the city
that the area needed to be
covered with a mural and
a statue now that the new
West Highland Trail trav-
els underneath.
“Research shows that
once you beautify a public
space in a more permanent
way, graffiti artists tend to
leave it alone,” she said.
Harrison Temple, who
was using a roller to spread
gray paint over names and
swear words scrawled
on the underside of the
bridge, said most of the
graffiti wasn’t very fam-
ily-friendly and he was
glad to help get rid of it,
but there were a few things
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Rachel Cairns, left, and Schae Borego paint over graffiti
under the bridge at Riverfront Park in Hermiston during
the I Love My City event.
that he was a little sad to
paint over.
“This is something
we’ve been planning for a
long time, but this is the
city stepping in and giv-
ing us some resources,” he
said. “This is not the end of
what we want to do here.
We want to make it a fami-
ly-friendly art space.”
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Al Llanos hands flowers to his daughter outside the
Hermiston Community Center during the I Love My City
event Saturday.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Volunteers and Hermiston parks manager Jason Barron,
right, spread bark chips at Riverfront Park during the I
Love My City event.
Volunteers shovel bark chips at Riverfront Park in Hermiston
during the I Love My City event Saturday.
King of Cowboys: Brazile inducted into hall of fame
Continued from Page A1
“He waited for his horse
and steer to clear several
cameramen, then completed
his run,” wrote Thorne in
a letter to the editor in the
East Oregonian soon after.
“His act of protecting others
at a time when his self-inter-
est could have taken control
was the demonstration of a
real champion in the contest
of rodeo.”
In December, Brazile
announced his departure
from full-time competition.
The King of Cowboys’ induc-
tion into Pendleton’s hall of
fame caps off an amazing
run. As Brazile eases back on
the throttle, he leaves a trail
of records broken. He earned
almost $6.5 million and had
52 National Finals qualifica-
tions. He is one of only three
cowboys to win world titles
in four different events.
Brazile chatted about
the Pendleton Round-Up by
phone on Monday evening.
The rodeo is iconic, he said,
in everything from its buck-
ing chutes to its huge grassy
arena.
“It’s one of my favorites,”
Brazile said. “It’s always
been a really special rodeo to
me. It’s so different than any
other rodeo. It’s played a big
part in a lot of my success.”
He said he wasn’t plan-
ning on competing in Pend-
leton this year, given his
reduced schedule, but he
may have changed his mind
with the news of his hall
of fame induction. Brazile
said he pared his number of
rodeos from 100 to 25 this
year.
“I couldn’t quit cold tur-
key,” he said.
Joining
Brazile
as
inductee into the Pendleton
Round-Up and Happy Can-
yon Hall of Fame are Marlo
and Billy Ward, Steve Corey
and Dean Forth.
The Wards, of LaGrange,
Wyoming, were recognized
in the contract personnel cat-
egory. Billy has worked as a
pick-up man for the last 14
years and Marlo has served
as a timer since 2007. The
couple provided parade and
grand entry horses for the
Round-Up court at Cheyenne
Frontier Days in 1990 and
continue to provide horses
for royalty visits to the Wyo-
ming rodeo.
Inductee in the volun-
teer category is Steve Corey.
Corey has volunteered with
Happy Canyon and the
Round-Up for over 65 years,
starting when he acted in the
Happy Canyon Night Show
as a boy. Corey served as
president of the Round-Up
and Happy Canyon associa-
tions. The Pendleton attorney
also donated his legal exper-
tise to both during contract
negotiations with sponsors
and helped establish the Pro-
fession Bull Riding event in
Pendleton.
Dean Forth was hon-
ored in the early years cate-
gory. Forth had more than 70
years of volunteering for the
two organizations under his
belt when he died in 2006.
He was a Happy Canyon
Night Show cast member
since his boyhood. He main-
tained livestock owned by
the Round-Up Association
on his own property for more
than 15 years. For the West-
ward Ho! Parade, he main-
tained rolling stock, secured
teams of animals to pull wag-
ons and buggies, and orga-
nized the formation along the
parade route. He served as
the parade’s grand marshal in
1991 and won the Round-Up
Appreciation Award in 1981.
The Pendleton Round-Up
and Happy Canyon Hall of
Fame kicked off in 1969 with
the induction of 10 men and
five horses. An honoree must
have a long association with
the Round-Up and/or Happy
Canyon.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0810.
Contributed photo
Forth
Contributed photo
Marlo and Billy Ward